7 Mysteries Academy
by The-Artful-Trickster
Summary: Naru hasn't seen Mai since he left for England. A case brings him to a haunted school in Japan that seems to have a sinister secret or is it a red herring? Knowing full well that Mai would fall for this Naru high-tails it back to Japan dragging Lin with him, what happens when he finds Mai & finds out that she has really grown up over the years along with someone called...Kimi?
1. Back To Japan

Seven Mysteries Academy. _Naru hasn't seen Mai since he left for England. A case brings him to a haunted school in Japan that seems to have a sinister secret called 'The 7 Mysteries of the Academy.' Knowing full well that Mai would fall for such a thing Naru high-tails it back to Japan dragging Lin with him. But what happens when the gang find Mai & finds out that she has really grown up over the years along with someone called...Kimi?_

 **(A/N:** Did you miss me?)

* * *

 **After School Nightmare.**

Chapter 1: Back to Japan

Sunlight filtered through the curtains and seeped into the room, dust being projected in the beam and floating around. There were no birds twittering about or animals chirping, just the faint murmur of the gardeners and other staff in the background rising up every now and then. It wasn't a particularly hot or cold day, but there were grey clouds in the air and a muggy mist fading away on the horizon. Typical English weather. Books were laid about on the floor, some still open from the night before, others in a pile to be stacked back onto the bookshelves. Naru picked up his mug of spiced tea, and inhaled the aroma – it was an invigorating cardamom blend this time, rich and warming for this time of year, although he still placed Earl Grey as his favourite. He brought the edge of the mug up to his lips and drunk it in. It had a soothing effect as it ran down his throat, he brushed his fingers through his hair and massaged his temple along the way, content he placed the cup down on the coaster and stretched his arms above his head with a groan. Satisfied he went back to his computer screen and resumed the monotonous click-clacking on his keyboard. A few minutes later Lin came into the room with a tower of files and loose papers in his arms.

"You didn't knock." Naru stated without looking away from the screen.

"The door was already open Noll."

He just hummed in reply and Lin closed the door.

"Noll, I should warn you Madoka is here."

Naru turned to him, giving him his full, undivided attention. "Hmm? What does she want?"

Lin rubbed the back of his shoulder and replied. "She's with your parents now, but she seemed excited about something."

"Great, if she's speaking to them then we have a while to plan ahead."

At that moment in time the door burst open with a grinning Madoka behind it. The slow paced settlement of the room seemed to have sped up with her presence as she spun into the room.

"NARU! Oh how is my special little boy!? I don't suppose you were planning an escape route now were you ah-ha-ha!?" She belted out with her hands by her cheek as she tilted her head.

"Mado-"

"And Linny how are you?" Madoka rushed to Lin and rapidly shook one of his outstretched hands.

Lin just started at the woman in a confused manner. "…Linny?"

"Madoka!" Naru repeated. "State your reasoning for barging in here like this."

Madoka pouted in response. "Oh Naru it's like you don't appreciate my visits!" He said nothing. She smiled. "I have a case for you."

Naru became intrigued as she handed over an international newspaper with a certain article circled with a bright, neon blue highlighter.

" _ **School's Mystery Haunting! Fact or Faux?**_

 _Frightened parents keep children from school as they are convinced their children's high school is possessed by multiple spirits. Claims have been made of bodily harm on students (See pictures below) and students being spirited away during the witching hours of this be the mark of Yurei, or just an act to get out of exams, set to start before the Christmas holidays?_

 _Head teacher, Mayuko Ifuku, claims a spiritual presence flicks lights on and off, tampers with electrical appliances, moves posters around the walls and causes the floorboards to creak at Hachioji Higashi Gakuen._

 _The professor said a popular medium she hired to investigate the property confirmed a 'male energy' at the school grounds. It was during the medium's second visit that he sensed that the spirit wanted to communicate, he said._

 _'I allowed the spirit to use me as a medium and give any messages through writing. This was carried out in the dark. I sat with paper on my lap and pen in hand in the dark while turning into spirit._

 _Believers state that the high school may be haunted by Ubume due to widespread rumours of the schools leniency of student's promiscuity. Others insist that this case is due to the work of Zashiki-warashi, and that these meddlesome spirts should be simply ignored._

 _Teachers have been pleading with students to return to classes and to comfort any worries that may inflict parents, however many of the faculty have been absent since the haunting events have gotten worse. Shinto priests urge students still attending classes to carry Ofuda containing the name of a Kami to prevent further harm._

 _Official Education Association, acknowledged: 'We are aware of the unusual activities reported by Ms Mayuko Ifuku and have listened to her concerns in a sensitive manner."_

"A school haunting?" Naru questioned after reading the report.

"Precisely!" Madoka happily replied.

"This paper is from Japan…"

"Yes, and they need your help Naru."

He paused. "I'll think about it." Madoka pouted.

Lin cleared his throat. "Noll…you've been doing nothing but sitting around here in your room for the majority of the month. Your parent's are only seeing you at dinner these days!"

"Well how unfortunate for them that Eugene's not here to keep them company-"

"-Naru that's enough!"

"I said I'll think about the case!"

"Y'know…" Madoka interrupted. "It's pretty plausible to suggest that, that one friend of yours – Mai was it? – is the medium mentioned in the article?"

Naru exhaled loudly and bridged his fingers on his nose. "Ma…She isn't the medium…she was just an ordinary girl that helped lift boxes. Masako is the medium."

"Ah, so it is."

Just then Naru realised that the group may have seen the article, no they must have. For Madoka to receive the newspaper from England there must have been a delay! And that Mai did have a tendency to get into trouble.

Lin noticed a sudden change in Naru.

"Noll, are you okay?"

"Lin, I've thought about it, pack the bags we're going back to Japan." Naru didn't leave any space for a reply as he hastily retrieved his black jacket from behind his chair and swiftly put it on then left the room shutting the door with a loud slam. Madoka exhaled in content as Lin noticed this and smirked.

"So did that go as you had planned?"

She gasped. "Koujo you old sly dog! I have no idea what you mean (!)"

"Hmm, old? Your only two years younger than I am."

"A woman never ages over 20 Lin, never."

* * *

They left the Davis mansion behind and waited outside as Lin hailed a taxi. Naru had a solemn look on his face as he drew up plans on what to do next. Lin tried getting Naru to go back and wait inside the house but he had already made up his mind and had by that time spoke to his parents about returning to Japan. After a few minutes Lin spotted the familiar sight of the black taxi heading for them, as it slowed down to a stop in front of the two men, Lin took this as his cue to open the door for Naru and place the bags in the back of the car.

"Take us straight to Heathrow Airport please, as fast as you can." Lin ordered to the driver who grumbled in response. The drive wasn't a particularly pleasing one nor aesthetic as they had been stuck on the motorway for about an hour. The driver, as a whole wasn't very chatty - just the way Naru liked it. He preferred peace and quiet where he could be alone with his thoughts and Lin knew this from their experiences from Naru's childhood. The rain drizzled down and dribbled down the window panes, Naru stared at the pounding raindrops and recalled a time when he and Eugene had played this particular game during rainy days, he started to stare at one singled out raindrop and watched it sliver down the window glass, he would try to determine the speed and direction of the raindrop whereas Eugene was far more interested in which of the two drops they'd pick would reach the bottom on the pane first in the race. The rain started to dry out by the time they reached the huge airport, he got out first and waited by the entrance of the airport doors for Lin to arrive with the light luggage they brought with them, it was all carry-on luggage so they didn't have the need to place suitcases on the trollies and wheel them around. They both entered through the automatic sliding doors and headed straight for their plane companies desk to receive their pre-booked tickets. The lady who looked like she was in her early thirties happily smiled at them both, showing off her bright white teeth which stood out against her red lipstick, her uniform consisted of a bright red suit that matched her make up along with navy blue trimmings and bold golden buttons on the chest, along with a hat neatly folded on top of her even neater hair bun with the only difference being her hat had white trimmings instead of blue. She had a holly leaf pinned to her right jacket breast which completed the outfit.

"Two adults, Lin Koujo and Oliver Davis." Lin ordered as he handed the woman the correct paperwork.

"Adults, oh my you don't look like an adult sir!" The ticket lady told them surprisingly.

"Check my passport then." Naru replied.

"Ah yes, so sorry about that! So you will be 20 soon?"

"Yes. Now can we just get out tickets now please, we're in a hurry."

"Naru-"Lin warned.

Naru faced him then noted that he did say 'please' before walked off towards the water fountain to take a quick drink.

The lady gave a nervous smile then awkwardly laughed. "Aha, I'll be able to hand you're your tickets as soon as I weigh your luggage." Lin complied and made sure that everything was in order. "Here's your tickets Sirs, you will be at Gate 8 at Terminal 3. There will be a lay-over of one hour and twenty minutes in total."

"That'll be fine ma'am." Lin regarded as he took the tickets and left. He caught up with Naru whom he found staring into a bookstore. The younger man noticed this and quickly faced back to Lin.

"Is it a direct flight or do we have to wait?"

"There's roughly a one and a half hour wait."

Naru simply sighed in response as they headed to the waiting area. During that time Lin opened up his laptop and started typing away whereas Naru preferred doing research by physically touching paper so he had been reorganizing the files and papers he had messed up from earlier on in the morning before Madoka arrived.

When it was time to head towards the gate the two men relaxed and casually strolled towards the gate unlike the rest of the passengers who had begun to run as soon as they heard the overhead announcement as if the process would change their seating order magically get everyone on the plane faster. The duo had nothing to worry about though; after all they had booked themselves into business class. Of course the Davis family had enough to afford a first-class ticket, but Naru preferred being placed in the former class as he would be able to ignore the snobs who deemed themselves better than others, an impression he never got rid of due to his many family parties during his childhood…Of course, he always had his partner to keep him company _…back then…._

" _Flight 105 to Tokyo will be available for boarding in 45 minutes. Please prepare documentation for the gates."_

"Naru is there anything you want to get before we board the plane?" Lin asked.

"No."

"Hmm…are you sure? I was certain that you were interested at the bookstore…"

"You're mistaken."

"Oh…well..." Lin took in a deep breath and exhaled. "…I suppose you wouldn't mind if we just strolled around then? Seeing as we have time to spare?"

Naru thought about it for a moment before agreeing. By the time they were finished with their purchases it was time to finally board the plane. Once again, as soon as the announcement was made over the tannoy the crowd went crazy. The duo managed to get through the cluster and into their seats. They both belted up and started to relax as the airline staff went through the safety procedures. Naru opened up a book and simply ignored the mind-numbingly safety procedure. Lin watched the sight of the young man in front of him. Naru had grown up from the child he had babysat since childhood right before his eyes, he felt a wave of nostalgia wash over him and felt a sense of proudness at the sight. Naru had always been an unstable child who found it difficult to merge himself with anyone; surprisingly Naru was a clingy child. He remembered warnings from Naru's mother Luella that Naru would often be attached to his older brother and now there he was. Lin had to admit, it was sad to see the sight of Naru without his brother beside him but he was pleased that he was content. Lin had promised the Davis family that he would protect Naru in the unlikely event something would happen to him. Although Naru wasn't a young child anymore - rather he was nearly twenty in a month – he still felt a need to be with him for his safety. He knew Naru more than anyone, and he also knew that Naru could overuse his powers without him to guide him through events. Lin smirked. Oh yes, Naru may have changed but he was still a spoiled child as always. Lin looked down at the book Naru was reading 'TWIN TELEPATHY (2002) Revised Edition – SPR' _...Add still arrogant to that list…_ Lin thought happily.

' _Thank you for choosing British Airways. You are currently on Flight 105 to Tokyo Haneda Airport. We are currently on schedule and can confirm no apparent delays other than our one and a half our layby. If you have any queries please don't hesitate to ask, we would like to again, thank you for choosing our flight!'_

Both men started to zone out and fall asleep. The flight was long and noisy but at least there was no turbulence. The breakfast meal on board the flight consisted of freshly baked bread including a selection of madeleines, a traditional British breakfast featuring Cumberland sausages and mature cheddar omelette, for dessert, a chunky cherry compote with Greek yoghurt and 'homemade' granola. The sunrise lit up the plane fully and embellished the food with a bright yellow and purple hue. The next time the duo woke up they were already in Japan, it was night-time and you could spot the streetlights of the roads and lit up windows of the houses. The airline crew were announcing their arrival to Haneda Airport and many people of the plane were slow and groggy after the long sleep.

"Lin where are we headed to after this?" Naru asked from beside Lin, he was rubbing his eyes and looked younger than his age concerning his messed up hair and the plane-provided blanket around him.

"I've already arranged a hotel room nearby, it's the same one from the last time we were here…but this time I want you to contact me if a ghost turns up at your window…"

"Hnn, I'll be fine."

Lin knew he would say this so had already booked the room opposite Naru's. If anything supernatural or paranormal was near Naru he would be able to sense it.

* * *

The next day the men had left the hotel room and took Lin's rented car to the town. Shibuya was often busy this time of the day but it had seemed to be one of the calmer days that the duo lucked out on today. The two headed towards the old office where the SPR used to be. Downstairs outside the rented buildings was the café where Naru used to get his meals from. He noted how not much had changed outside the buildings and followed Lin inside. Lin took out the key and unlocked the door with a creak. The hinges had been neglected to been oiled for quite some time. All traces of the SPR was gone, now it's most recent occupant seemed to be a financial company, traces of corporate logos and stickers where left around here and there and there was a layer of thin dust on everything from the tops of the bookshelves to the sofa and chair sets. Naru walked over towards the closed blinds and opened them, in doing so much dust fell off and landed on Naru's black suit. The dust stood out on the dark colour, he hated the contrast and brushed as much off as possible. Lin booted up the computers but they were taking a while to start up.

"Before the office is re-opened we should clean up. We can't have clients seeing this." Naru ordered Lin.

"That's fine; I'll make arrangements to refurbish the office."

' _I should have known this space would be rented again and used as something else…'_ Naru looked around the dusty room with sombre eyes. Many of the paintings and picture frames around the area had been removed but left patches of emptiness around the room. Naru looked at the space where Mai had perched up a Christmas tree in the winter, he remembered how happy she looked when she was decorating and how smug she was after the rest of the gang came in and saw. He had still yelled at her afterwards and made her take it down. _'Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at her like that…'_ It seemed that without Mai's presence the office seemed cold. Naru walked around the office as Lin started to speak.

"Naru, about the gang, who shall I contact first? It won't be easy to trace everyone now, so we should start earlier than later."

Naru thought about it…it's true, after so long there's no way of even knowing that the group would even still be in Japan. Suddenly he spotted something near the doorway.

"I think I know just the person." He replied as he picked up a flyer that had been in the junk mail pile that had been building up by the door. On the flyer there was a man in a bright green jacket with a cowboy-style hat wearing sunglasses. "We should follow the trail his fangirls have left us."

"What is that?" Lin asked from the computer screen.

"It's a poster from his fan club, it say's where his latest concerts are and its locations. There's one this week we should be able to find him after the show."

"Alright that's one down, who should we track down next?"

"Try to figure out where Mrs Matsuzaki is."

"From our records we know the name of her parent's hospital, I'll head down there and see if there's a nurse under her name. What about you? What will you be doing whilst I'm gone?"

"I'll head up to the school where Masako said she'd be getting into. I remember her drabbling about the entrance exams so I'm hoping she got through and that I'll find her there."

"Alright, I'll meet up with you there as soon as I'm done."

* * *

'Horikoshi High School.' That's what the fancy arched sign said. Naru glanced at the high and mighty building supported by pillars. The colossal structure was layered with vast mirrors that mirrored the bright blue sky giving the whole area a rich and vibrant aura. Even Naru was impressed at the sight. Walking closer he noted the smell of a swimming pool and saw a tower building with balcony areas security cameras followed his every step in bunches and it wasn't long until eventually a security team came along and questioned Naru. Naru had known about this school and knew only the super-rich or the super famous were allowed in. Stating his real identity would as always be risky…however the security here was absolute, meaning it was safe enough to mention who he was and not be exposed.

"I'm here as a visitor." He spoke in English to the Japanese guards. "I am Oliver Davis." The guards who were confused at the sight of him at first firmly straightened their backs when they heard the name. They lead him inside and walked him to the front desk; the receptionist, a young, short, woman with a bob hair cut asked who he was in Japanese.

"I am Oliver Davis." Naru replied. The receptionist started speaking in English fluently.

"Ah, hello there Mr. Davis, I have heard of your research, but may I ask what it is you are doing here?"

"My father has requested the help of a certain medium who I was told went to this school."

"I see…well I'm sorry Mr. Davis but classes are in session and we value our pride in keeping the honour vested in our students and see to it that they pass their exams."

"It'll be an awful shame if I was to bring my father – Martin Davis - disappointing news. You see we had hopes to find a chance of happiness at this school…" The receptionist stared at shock at Naru but he kept going on. "-You see." He inched closer to the woman. "-I'd _hate_ to leave a disappointing review about this facility." The receptionist gulped and mumbled something in Japanese (not realising that Naru spoke the language) and started to apologise. An unexpected cold, chill air had filled the place. Naru knew that this school couldn't cover up any bad behaviour and took controversies seriously, if anything happened that changed the status of the school it would be done for.

"Mr. Davis let me offer you a visitor pass, if you would just let me take a note of the student that you are looking for I will personally escort you to their classroom."

"It's Masako Hara"

The receptionist looked through some records on the computer. "Ah yes, her room number is located in a nearby building, if you would like to follow me." She left the desk and dismissed the guards back to their stations. The lady and Naru walked through the entrance building and towards the classrooms, their shoes noisily squeaking against the polished floor tiles, Naru dismissed the boring framed pieces and awards cabinets. A bell started to ring signalising the start of break, students started to pour out of the rooms and fill the corridors, Naru's suit strongly contrasted those of the students but they seemed to dismiss him as quickly as they walked by. They left the main building and entered a courtyard. There was an archway where Naru heard a gentle voice.

"Is…is that really you?"

The receptionist turned around as did Naru.

"Ah Mr. Davis, this is the young girl. Well I will leave you to it then!" She said as she made her exit. Naru noted the look of Miss Hara and saw how much she had changed after so long. She wasn't wearing a kimono, but the same uniform all the female students wore at this school. The nineteen year old wore a white collar button-down shirt with a navy blue blazer with the school badge embroidered on the right breast. She wore a stripy plaid skirt that ended just above her knee with a matching bow tie. She wore knee-high socks that matched her outfit along with some sensible shoes.

"Miss. Hara. It's good to see you again."

"Yes, it's been almost a year since we even heard of you Naru…Tell me how was…" She pondered on what to say; finding his brothers body and heading back to England wasn't exactly a holiday. "…your trip?"

"Everything got sorted out."

"I see." Masako lifted the sleeve of her blazer to cover her mouth as the thought. A habit she hadn't broke out of after all this time.

"So I see you managed to get in then?"

"Ah yes!" Masako's eyes brightly lit up. "My tutors were really great, without them I wouldn't have made it that's for sure." She answered modestly "…But I suppose being a minor celebrity and all had its perks as well! Naru are you re-opening the SPR?"

"Not yet, Lin and I just got here from England. We're still setting things up and grouping everyone back together."

"Well I think I can help you there?" Naru looked at Masako who continued. "Yasuhara is somewhere around here too! Although he got in mostly because of his grades."

"How surprising(!)." Naru replied sarcastically.

Masako jumped at a sudden voice.

"Oh hush now Naru you knew it was inevitable.~" A student came up to Naru and gently pushed on his arm before standing. He had the same uniform as Masako, just in a male version, the only difference being that he seemed to have a coloured pin on his tie, indicating that he had some sort of status in the classroom, most likely a class president.

"Yasu! You said you had a seminar throughout break!"

"Well it was cancelled."

Masako sighed. "Of course it was…"

"Naru, what brings you back to Japan?"

"I'm starting up the business again."

"Oh great, do I get paid this time around or-"

"Yasu!"

"Well not all of us can live off sponsors-"

"Yasu I don't get sponsored like that! I don't have any celebrity endorsements."

Naru watched as the two bickered in front of him Naru wondered if this is what life would be like for the other younger member of the group.

"Mai should be in college around this time too…"

Yasu and Masako stopped and glazed at Naru.

"Naru didn't you know?" Yasu asked. He didn't reply.

"Mai had to drop out of high school suddenly…I haven't actually talked to her much since. I guess everyone pretty much lost in touch with each other."

"It's true; I didn't even know that Masako or I went to the same school until hallway into the first term!"

Naru didn't seem to like this. "When was the last time you spoke to her?"

Masako tilted her head and wondered. "It must have been during our 19th Birthday party, we had a joint celebration together, we would have sent you an invite but…we didn't know where you were in England."

Yasu spoke up. "Mai did kinda blow out on all of us then though…she was going through a tough time I'm sure but hey- at least she made the party eventful!" They both gave a sad smile.

'Maybe I shouldn't have kept teasing her that she was so stupid.' Naru thought. It would be hard to track Mai down now.

"I can't believe she dropped out…"

"Well…" Yasu started, stretching an arm out behind his head. "She did manage to get her high school certificate, so technically she graduated early, not dropped out."

Naru took the duo's contact information and told them that he'd get in touch once the SPR was available for business. Lin arrived by the end of the school day and came to pick Naru up. On the drive home Naru didn't say a word. Lin mentioned that he had received Monk and Ayako's information and called John but this all fell on deaf ears. Lin drove back to the hotel and told Naru to catch up on sleep from the jetlag as he went back to prepare the office.

Naru decided to take a quick shower. After he came out, just wrapped in a towel he collapsed on his back on the monochrome bed. How fitting that that the décor of the hotel room fitted his mood for the day. He stared endlessly at the ceiling searching for answers as water dripped down his forehead. He brushed his hand through his hair and wiped his soaked hands, he still hadn't dried himself off after leaving the shower and was just now starting to feel the cold chill as he shivered. He panted heavily as water droplets rolled off his chest and abdomen and onto the grey bedsheets. He lazily wiped and patted himself off but succumbed to exhaustion as he retreated back to bed after such a long day, not even bothering to put on any clothes or eat. Only a final word passed his lips as he brought his face closer to the blankets.

" _Mai…"_

* * *

 **(A/N:** _If you haven't guessed yet, don't read this story if you haven't finished the MANGA of Ghost Hunt, the manga completes the story where the anime dropped and contains many crucial things that were left out, so reading this story will have major spoilers!_

 ** _Please look and vote on the poll I have for this story on my homepage. So far it seems as though Mai will not be ending up with anyone, if you feel any different vote now!_** _Also Mai will be the last character to be reintroduced into the story, so yes you have a wait before you see her. I can confirm that Kimi will be shown in the story before Mai is._

 _So I've moved from Japan to South Korea, I'm currently developing a webtoon at the moment but done enough work that I can catch a little break to get back into fanfiction. I was in Shirakawa and the place I lived in didn't have the best internet. Plus I kept getting distracted! – Sorry!- but trust me, if you saw the sights there you'd be amazed on how at peace you can become! In a few months I will be moving again to England, UK, but I have family there so I will settle in quickly so the gap of the hiatus won't be as big as this one! Also dear readers, thank you deeply for the reviews and PM's during this hiatus, it makes me so happy to know that you guys still care and read my stories. Do keep reviewing as it makes it easier for me to know what you guys want! Readers, I am also thinking of taking a short 2 week holiday in America! Which state should I visit that has good sights and even greater food?_

 _Also on another note – the book Naru was reading is an actual real-life book from the SPR. Not the SPR from the 'Ghost Hunt' manga but an actual real-life Society for Psychical Research founded in the United Kingdom._

 _The airlines/airports mentioned are real-life, but not the flight number._

 _The school is based on a real-life school of the same name located in Japan. It's known to host the elite and famous but it's super expensive and strict. Personally I find it more of a prison than a school! For example one of the rules of the school is that you can't have snacks in the building, this is also included during the walk to and from school, meaning once your school day is over and you're heading home, you can't buy a snack or you'll be fined, arrested or expelled. Boys and girls are split, forbidden to talk to each other and have different routes to get to school. Dating and mobile phones are prohibited. It's common for celebs to have bodyguards but they aren't allowed to talk to them at all, and if you want to have your hair dyed you need to fill out a special form and only allowed to temporary dye it. Also, CCTV is everywhere and I mean_ _ **everywhere**_ _at that school! So of course I toned down the accuracy of the school, I'm not writing a prison fanfic here!_

 _If there's anything you're confused about –such as the ages of the cast or the timings - leave a review and I'll answer it! Also please tell me what you liked/didn't like about this chapter! – Other than the wait!- constructive criticism like this helps me upload chapters faster than reviews that only say 'great work, update soon!')_


	2. Return To The Church

**(A/N:** Starts off quite lemony but not much – limey maybe? Well the beginning is citrus-y anyway! Although I'm sure the endings cliff-hanger will leave you all feeling sour!

A lot of you want Mai to end up with Naru, this story may go this way but who knows? I've also had people wanting Mai to be with Yasu. I gotta say, it's really interesting to hear your opinions dear readers! It's really fun to see how Mai interacts with the boys in this story, until a clear winner of the poll has been decided, Mai will have interactions with the boys in the gang that may be the sign of something more~

Another question I received a lot of was if Kimi was Mai and Naru's daughter. My answer: Who knows?~

Kimi wasn't even in the last chapter but I'm glad you guys are eager of her already! I won't decline or confirm anything at this point, but the point of this story is to give you guys a chance to solve the riddles I leave you. Go forth dear readers – see if you can solve the Mysteries that await!~)

* * *

 **7 Mysteries Academy.**

Chapter 2: Return To The Church.

 _Wet._

 _Dark, warm and pleasurable. He found an intoxicating effect that wasn't coming from the alcohol. Her moans were quiet and stimulated, their bodies soaked from the liquids from the party earlier, a simple mistake had caused them to arrive at this situation. Beads of drink dripped from his body and ran down his neck to his hips, draining down towards his v lines on his body and down lower. She held his hair tighter and arched her back upwards, and mouthed the words he wanted to hear as he lowered his head down to silence those lips..._

 _ **BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP... BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP, BEEP-BEEP!**_

Naru raised his head and grimaced, he muted the alarm on his desk and glared at the sunlight barging through the grey hotel blinds. The dark colour scheme of the hotel room made the light blaze brighter. He shivered and looked down at himself to see he was still naked with only his towel from the night before, it had loosened in the night but still managed to keep on his body. He took a moment to reflect on the strange dream he had. _'Stupid...'_ he thought. He looked around the room and recalled the last time he woke up in a hotel room due to strange dreams. It was during the SPR's third case dubbed the 'After School Hexer' by the gang. One of the spirits had followed him back to the hotel room and he challenged him to a staring battle with her. He recalled how Lin got mad that he wasn't contacted for this but more significantly how important the case was for Mai as he tested her for physic abilities. Although he was proud of her, he still felt guilty for embarrassing her and comparing her to a wild animal. _'Well...I can't change the past'._ He sneezed and realised that he should quickly warm up in the shower and head down to the office with Lin.

Once they made it through the busy traffic and to the office there was already a familiar crowd waiting outside the door. Once the group heard their approaching footsteps they welcomed the duo with happy smiles. Lin revealed the key from his chest pocket and opened the office door, whilst it had only been a day majority of the room had been cleaned up, the air was no longer dusty but some furnishings needed to be replaced. Lin opened the windows to remove what was left of the musty air and piled up stacks that still needed to be cleared from the previous tenants and started to make tea which he knew Naru would order. The tea set and coffee machine had been one of the first items to be replaced and updated under orders of Naru yet the duo had still needed to make plans for the computers and cameras to be replenished. Ayako and Monk sat on the green, three seater sofa on either side, Masako sat on in the middle of the brown two seater sofa and Yasu took the last dark brown armchair for himself. The beach, coffee table remained at the centre of the room. Naru looked around and noticed that John and Mai were missing from the gang. Yasu seemed to notice this as well as Monk. An award silence fell upon the group, the only sound coming from Lin on the other side of the divider which split the consulting room from the kitchen. Monk tried to release the tension.

"Man I can't believe you guys tracked us lot down in less than a day! You do really work wonders Naru!"

"It's good that everyone is back together again, well...almost." Ayako mentioned.

Naru spoke up. "Does anyone know the situation of John and Mai?"

"Well if we know John he must be stuck with work somewhere." He laughed. "-and Mai...oh." He stopped laughing and looked down at the floor sadly.

"What is it?"

"Well the thing is Naru...we aren't sure where Mai could be. After you officially shut down the SPR we all kinda went back to our old ways. I went back to the old man's temple although he lets me take breaks for my band more often now. The only time I left the temple was for concerts, and it's not like I had a phone or internet in there." Naru walked and sat down next to Masako opposite Monk.

Masako perked up. "Monk, I didn't know that! Congratulations you deserve the time off. What about you Ayako, you must be too old now to be a maiden?"

Ayako massaged an angry vein from her forehead. "Well if you must know, I'm lucky enough to not be stuck sitting in some snobby school all day like a child, I left the shrine on good terms and started to help out more at my parent's hospital, it's kept me busy, even my 'day offs' are just to catch up on paperwork."

"Interesting." Masako responded sarcastically. "I'll be sure to study heard so I don't have to be around sickly people all day." Yasu smirked at the two girls attitudes as Lin returned with a tea tray with an assortment of drinks and a selection of small snacks.

"Oh Lin you remembered my favourite drink, I'm so honoured!" Yasu teased.

Naru closed his eyes whilst pinching the bridge of his nose and inhaled and exhaled deeply. "What about you Yasuhara?"

"Hmm?"

"Why was it that you lost contact with Mai?" He opened his eyes and looked at him.

Yasu widened his eyes. "Huh? Oh! Uh...I..." He picked up a biscuit from the snack table. "Alright, I feel a little guilty saying this, but really I've just been too busy with work. Sure I called her and we have all stayed in touch, but we all either was out of the area or just too busy with studying or work to keep in contact with each other, I guess we just all sorta moved on with our lives!-Ah coconut filling you know what I like Lin!"

Lin ignored him and informed everyone about the note he received after Naru had left for the school the day before. "I managed to get in contact with John but he said he was unable to be at the SPR today when I called his number last night."

"Did he mention why Lin?"

"He only said that he couldn't get out of work on such short notice, apparently they needed all the help they could get."

"They?" The group repeated. Naru placed his hand on his chin in a thinking manner. _If John couldn't reach the group on such short notice, there was a possibility he wasn't in Japan._ He thought.

"What could that mean?" Ayako asked.

"Lin do you still have the voice mail message? Perhaps if we listened to that again we cold analyse the source of where he is?" Yasu inquired. Lin nodded and silently placed the machine in the middle of the table and hit play.

"...Heya mate, thanks for the invite but I'm afraid I'll have to turn down the offer, I'm seriously tied down here right now and can't make it out! AHHH, will you get down from there? -No stop don't paint on that!- I'll pop 'round a bit later on in the week though okay? Cheers mate!"

The machine beeped signalising the end of the message and a thin silence hit the group. Naru lowered his hand back to his lap and crossed them. "I believe this is relating to the Church."

"Yes, I think Naru's right." Masako spoke up. "There was the sound of children's commotion in the background wasn't there?"

"Right, I think we should head down there and find out for ourselves if John will be returning or not, judging by the sound of the children it's most likely the church were we had a previous case, none of the other churches John is linked with have a day care that's open today."

The gang agreed and started to head down to the Church.

* * *

An hour later.

The group climbed out of their cars and looked around. It wasn't a snowy day like the last time they were there instead it was a simple cloudy day to group noticed a lot more people around which made sense of the last time they were there it was during Christmas and many families were held to celebrate the season this time however was during the middle of the year when the hustle and bustle of families were around. It was around-eight and a group of spot several, late parents still dropping their kids for the day care. Many children were swinging on their parents' arms and laughing in delight it wasn't just the children many of the adults also had huge smiles on their faces. As they neared the churches entrance, Masako accidentally bumped into a man, this particular man was more dishevelled than the others.

She stuttered. "Oh my, apologies Sir." She gazed at the man in front of her, he had stubbly patches, a shadowy beard and shaggy matted hair – but what struck Masako about this stranger was his eyes, which seemed to aged with a strange exhaustion. She noticed markings of blood on his clothes but didn't judge anything from it.

The man gave a grumble and shrugged. "S'Fine." As the odd man brushed past the group, Monk spoke a comment about alcohol support groups; Masako kept her eyes on him as he limped away quickly.

"Such a creepy place for thugs to be loitering around…" One of the members of the group mentioned.

"It must have been one of the parents."

The group turned around to the heart of the voice. "John!"

John was at the doorway in a bright green jacket, underneath you could see the collar popped up from his yellow shirt. "I'm glad to see you guys again!" John looked at Naru, who just like himself, didn't seem to have changed in the past year. "And you Naru, it's good to see you in Japan again."

Naru didn't comment on that but acknowledged his greeting. "John…Why didn't you pick up the phone?!"

"Naru not that we didn't miss your attitude but could we at least head inside and get out from the cold?!" Ayako insisted as she breathed warm air onto her hands.

"My apologies Ayako, I would have thought that hot temper of yours would have kept you warm enough." Naru flashed her a frosty smile and spoke to John as they headed inside, Monk and Yasu holding back Ayako from pouncing on Naru.

"As I was sayin'." John continued. "There's a little girl here whose super clingy…she usually makes a lot of hassle when being dropped off here and now that she's ill she needs extra attention, sadly the staff wouldn't be in ratio if I wasn't here."

"Why not just get a volunteer to help out?" Monk asked as the group sat down in a small room inside the church.

"This child seems to behave better when I'm around so it's just easier for everybody if I stay here. She's the youngest here out of all the children and I believe that because of the age gap between her and the rest of the children here that she hasn't transitioned here easily. She has a fever so we can spoil her for a bit anyway."

Ayako perked up. "If that's the case should I take a quick look at her?"

John raised a hand. "No it's fine, it came about that she was just missing her family, it happens often here at the church, the one who looks after her is coming back from a trip and informed me he could take her back home, when I told her this in the morning her temperature was quite high, but when I checked just now it seemed to have cooled down a lot. She should be settled until he gets back from work.

Monk beheld John in a dazzling light. "Woah, John are you a Saint? Going to so much trouble for one child!"

John chuckled. "It's just what I do."

The laughter of children could be heard from the open window as playtime was starting. Lin got up from his seat and started to pull his coat on. "I should get back to the office." He said. John followed him outside and escorted him out.

Yasuhara smirked at this behind his glasses. "Oh, there must be so much paperwork to do for an office that hasn't even been up for twenty-four hours or made open to the public yet Lin!" Lin ignored him and walked off. Monk started to laugh as well.

"He must have remembered what happened the last time he was left here alone." Yasu looked at him with confusion so Monk explained. "Mai was possessed by a child's spirit and believed Lin to be his father!" Yasu smiled at the way the group started to reminisce about the past, the topic of Mai came up and the group were starting to show that they missed her presence. "She would have loved to see the children again though."

A sombre air filled the room. Yasu slapped his hands onto his knees and jumped up. "Well!" He began, putting his hands on his hips. "-Not that this hasn't been great, but I'd better get back to college."

"Huh?" Monk stared at him. "So young boy?"

"You all seem like you can get this done without me for now…besides this is all reminding me of what Mai told me this one time…after we all came back from the beach during that cursed house case."

"What was it?"

"She told me that her favourite moments was parts like this…When we could just laugh together and act like a family. She even thought of us like her own family figures."

Masako turned to him. "Really? I didn't know that?"

Yasu pushed his glasses further up his nose with a glint. "Yup, she sure did!" He pointed at the members of the group as he carried on. "Ayako, you were the mother as you looked after her when she had bad visions! Monk you were the father as you kept messing her hair with your big hands and joked with her about things!"

Ayako and Monk smiled at him with glazed eyes.

"Did she mention the rest of us?"

"She did, Masako, she did. She said she saw you as a little sister because the two of you kept fighting like siblings."

Ayako muttered. "You two sure did, you even had a pillow fight that one time."

"John was the eldest brother because he was the most responsible, I was the middle brother because of my charms and Naru…well he was the youngest because he was a brat ha-ha!" The group snorted at this. "Lin was the uncle because Mai found that back then, he was still difficult to talk to."

Naru shook his head. "How stupid. Wasting time like that. It's just like her to be so childish."

Ayako stopped laughing to pause at Naru. "Au contraire, she seemed quite mature at your leaving party."

Masako contributed her thoughts. "I thought she was being a bit of a party downer, although I admit it was nice seeing her so quiet."

"She probably seemed quiet because everyone was tipsy from drinking, remember she said she wasn't interested in drinking yet."

"Ayako you were probably putting her off, based on the way you were acting back then." Ayako responded to Monk's comment by throwing a pillow at him, John sweated as he tried to calm them down. Yasu spotted Naru, still in the corner of the room, but now seemed to be discomforted.

"When was the last time anyone saw or heard of where Mai was?" The group stopped whatever they were doing to think about Naru's question.

Masako placed her hand on top of her chin. "It must have been during the birthday party. You weren't there because you had already left the month before."

* * *

 _\+ Start Flashback. +_

 _It was one month after Naru had officially closed the SPR, and Mai was gleefully taking pictures of everyone with her camera. The room was covered with pink ribbons and colourful paper chains, the centre of the room held a table with frillings around it, on top there were a selection of delightful cupcakes and treats on the silver platters. One could almost be blinded by the amount of glittery trimmings on the decorations. A dangling set of giant numbers reflected light as they twirled around on a piece of string in the doorway. Yasu was going around sucking helium and doing impressions of people to the gang. Masako sighed. "Mai, its July 13_ _th_ _…your birthday has already gone and mine isn't for another week or so!"_

 _Mai posed for her picture with Ayako before waiting for the flash to turn back around to Masako. "Well there's no point in having two parties when we could just have one big one!" She smiled widely, grinning her bare teeth._

 _Monk played around with the cake in his hand. He peeled off the frosting aside on the paper plate and ate the plain sponge cake underneath it. "Mai you really went all out on this party didn't you?" He asked grimly staring at the baby panda drawings on the paper plate._

" _Well why wouldn't I? It's not every day a girl turns nineteen!" Mai picked up a chocolate on the table covered in dark green foil, she unwrapped it and bit into it before frowning. "Ugh, I forgot this was mint." She spat the sweet back out and threw it away. Yasu noticed this and came up to her._

" _Hey are you okay?" He asked gently placing a hand on her shoulder. She wiped some sweat off her forehead._

" _Yeah I'm good. Just feeling a little dizzy."_

" _Are you sure? You did dance a lot today."_

 _She smirked at him. "Yes I'm fine._ _ **Really**_ _."_

 _Monk chuckled at Mai who had also seen what happened. "Mai maybe this will help you lay off the sweets from now on, you've started to gain weight again!"_

" _Ah, Bou-san, that's a bit-"_

" _Ahhh, it's okay John, I'm just having a little bit of fun!"_

" _Huh, what do you mean Monk?"_

" _Yeah I've noticed that too." Yasu said pointing his finger under his chin in a thinking manner._

 _Mai pouted. "Well why did you say anything?!"_

 _He looked down at her. "Well you looked so content when you were eating snacks I just couldn't stop you."_

" _Y-YASU! That's no good!"_

 _Monk walked over to Mai and grabbed her face. "Aw, little Mai-chan, you look so adorable when you puff your cheeks like that!"_

 _Mai started to get angry. "No!" She yelled, pushing him away. "I need to be at a good weight, otherwise they might not let me-"_

 _Monk gave her a confused look. "Hmm?"_

 _Mai stuttered. "Ah…um…nothing, it's just something I'm thinking of doing, this new job…I want to prove to myself I can be a real adult."_

 _The group paused for a few seconds before laughing at her._

" _Oh Mai, never change." Ayako told her._

" _Yes, there's no point in rushing to be an adult." John advised._

 _Masako bounced a balloon of her hands. "You must be the most childish adult I've ever met Mai."_

 _Yasu said nothing as he silently watched Mai play with a strand of hair behind her ear. She was smiling still but didn't look as happy as before._

" _I'm going to go home now…yeah I feel kinda dizzy."_

 _Monk looked at his watch on his wrist. "Wow it's gotten late, we should all head off soon."_

 _Mai nodded and tugged on Yasu's sleeve. "Drive me home?"_

 _Masako stared at the duo, she had realised that in the past month they had gotten closer, often being seen joking around and whispering with each other about things._

 _+End Flashback.+_

* * *

"After that, we all lost contact with each other. Yasu and I began school and everyone else had gone back to work."

Naru shifted his body weight from one foot to another as he still stood leaning on the wall. "And of Mai? What about her?"

The group looked away from Naru's eyes. "I'll ask again. What. Of. Mai?"

Yasu spoke up but refrained from having eye contact with Naru. "She said that she was working on this on-going project…and that she was looking for a new house she could actually afford rent with. She kept saying something about keeping with her family's traditions or something or other…"

Naru frowned. "That's ridiculous. You're telling me that for the last entire year, you didn't keep track of one another?"

Monk scowled. "Naru. We all met by chance at that school, it was limited time we would all be working together. We all knew that. It's just pure luck we had cases together, other than the times you called us for help we had no contact with each other."

Ayako checked out her nails with an outstretched hand as she spoke causally. "And look at us now, even at this moment we don't have the whole gang. I'm surprised Johns still in Japan."

John returned back into the room at this point and seemed surprised at her comment. "Actually its pure coincidence you found me here, I got called back a week ago and came back here from Australia for a case." He took of his coat and placed it on the coat stand.

Naru breathed out a deep sigh from his nose. "So that it, no one knows where Mai could be right now, or if she's even in Japan."

The group looked down at the floor in disappointment. John looked around the room innocently. "Ah…actually I still have regular contact with Mai?"

* * *

 **(A/N:** _Dun-dun-dunnn! John is the only one out of the whole gang that has still kept in contact with Mai! What does this mean? I can confirm that you, my darling readers will have to wait a while before we actually see Mai again and that the next time you see her she will be slightly different but still the same old Mai you know and love! Also, this story will remain T rated, there will be graphic descriptions of horror but as of yet I have no plans to change this story rating to M. This isn't going to be your stereotypical '7 Mysteries of the school' story, but we'll get to that later, right now these chapters are part of the 'introductory Arc/ back to Japan arc' once this is over the setting will be changed to the academy as part of the '7 Mysteries Arc' followed by the finale '7 Answers Arc', they arcs won't be split into three different stories, they'll all be included as one. Depending on how popular this story is to you I may think about a sequel. If you have any confusions about the story so far leave a review or PM me so I can help you out!_

 _I can see you guys want to see Kimi already, she'll be officially introduced in the next chapter but who knows, maybe you already caught a glimpse of her?_

 _So far there's been a tie in the polls, Mai will either end up alone or with Naru! I had results for Mai to be with other characters but the first two options I said are the ones in the lead! The romance poll will return after I publish chapter 3 of this story!_

 _I have a_ _ **voting poll**_ _up on my profile page! Please vote on which story I should publish next!_

 _ **Please review at the end about your thoughts on this chapter, for example this could be about the length or about the storyline in terms of plot.**_ _ **Please don't fave/follow without reviewing either!**_ _ **I need feedback from you to see if this chapter length is okay for you guys or if you like to have anything changed. 22 people added this story to their list but 14 didn't bother to leave a review.**_

 _ **Please DON'T leave a review saying 'update' as this is extremely offensive. After all the work I take to write a chapter out and the patience I have to wait for any reviews please have some consideration and don't just review 'update faster/can't wait for the next chapter etc'.**_


	3. Hotel Hijinx!

( **A/N:** Eh Naru's the main character and this chapter isn't even from his POV!?)

7 Mysteries Academy

Chapter 3: Hotel Hijinks.

There was a pregnant pause with the group. The tension was heavy. His heart skipped a beat. His eyebrows furrowed. He filled his lungs with air and let them out with a deep sigh, with one eyebrow raised and his hair rustling slowly with the movement of his shoulders, he asked his next question.

"...What do you _mean_ you still have contact with Mai?"

John fiddled around with one of his golden lock of hair. His bright cyan eyes, shimmering with innocence. "I mean what I said Naru." He answered nervously.

* * *

+Elsewhere+

The fresh minty shower invigorated her body; she loved the tingling feeling it gave her skin. Not being fussy with her hair, she used up a small bottle of the hotels shampoo, it came in a brown bottle that was slightly translucent, she didn't mind though, after all it matched the darkness of her eyes. The look and texture of the product reminded her of a one-night stand she had with an employee, slimy and slightly shimmering in murky silver, although she remembered it being more sticky between her fingers. She frowned for a moment before brushing the thought off and let the coconut liquid cleanse her long reddish hair. She rubbed her body roughly and quickly letting her body get hotter and hotter, she made sure to scrub every part of her body as she felt herself get warmer, finally her body couldn't take it anymore and she stopped to turn the water down.

After letting the water rinse off the bubbles that had lathered on her body she let a cold rush of water cool her down to open her pores and cool her body down, the sudden rush of coldness suddenly hardening intimate areas of her chest. She stepped out onto the cold white tiles of the bathroom and turned off the shower. The bathroom itself wasn't all that fancy; the shower was a cheap model and only had a simple shower-head, none of the fancy jet-streamed ones you would get in other hotels… The shower didn't even have a curtain, just a short flimsy plane of glass that didn't do much to cover anyone's modesty. There was a bidet in the far corner and a large sink. But what her favourite feature of the bathroom was the vast mirror, even from standing in the shower one could see every inch of themselves in the mirror above the sink, it wasn't tall particularly, just incredibly wide as it took up much of the wall. It must have been hell for the maid to clean up the rooms but that wasn't her concern.

She took a scratchy white towel from the rail and wrapped it around her body but not before examining herself. Over the past few months or so she had finally been blessed with her body fat plunging up to her breasts than the rest of her body, her daily routines had finally been paying off, putting on a silky bra, she realised that it was getting slightly tight. She pouted as this grey silky one was a bra she loved and didn't want to dip into her savings to spend around £30 for another decent bra. She brushed the towel to wipe off remaining water droplets from over her long silky legs, she didn't get much taller, hardly grew at all for that matter since she was a child, but working as a waitress let her appear taller from the heels they had as uniform. She put on a fresh set of silk panties to match her bra, no longer did she wear those childish panda ones as her stable and steady income let her buy clothes she actually wanted rather than ones she could make do with from the bargain bins from the clearance section of the store. Oh yes, she had worked herself up in life and was proud of it! During her childhood she was a slightly chubby child, but as she was young she didn't care, when she grew to be an adult however, she wanted to be seen as more mature and swore to lose her baby weight. She looked up and down at the mirror again, by the looks of it, it had all paid off! She had it all! The high rise apartment, a high paying job and a great family – now all she wanted was a man that was suitable enough for her to remain at her side.

She walked over to the music player she had borrowed from a friend and placed it in the dock to blast out loud music. It didn't matter if the noise disturbed the neighbours, it was her last day of working here before heading out back to the cafe – she had only planned to work at the hotel for the summer anyhow, so it didn't matter if she got complaints. The woman dropped her towel on the floor in a damp pile and started to rock her long auburn hair to the music, droplets of water hitting her cheeks as she did so but she didn't mind – she opened the navy blinds to her window and saw the sights of the city, she didn't care that she was pretty much flashing, she was to high up for anyone to notice. She felt close to the sun as the glaze hit her eyes.

She breathed in a deep breath. "Today is going to be a _great_ day!" She said out loud as she relished in the sunlight warming her hair. She heard unmasked moans and grunting from the room above. _'A better day for some...'_ She joked. The noise got louder and she decided to distract herself by doing the rest of her tasks before she could leave.

She left her bed a mess as she threw her mini suitcase on it, it was red and masculine, an item she borrowed from the one she lived with as a favour. She planned on stopping by a sushi place to return the favour as he was a foodie. She recounted all her items and products in the case before going into the bathroom and taking all the soap and toiletries she could find. They may have not been the best quality, but they did the job and they were free, so she decided to take them home with her. She eyed up the towels as she left the room but then shook her head. _'Too rough for my skin'._ She thought.

She put on her hotel uniform and sat down on a chair and looked at the mirror in front of her table. She rubbed a finger over the yellowish-greenish name tag. _'Keiko Kitagawa'._ It read. She smiled as she read the name. She quickly dried the rest of her hair with a hairdryer and put it in a neat bun; she placed the small hat on her head and flattened out any bits still pointing out. Her hair had grown from just below her ears to just past her shoulder. _'Hmmm….it's time for a new 'do'._ She realised.

The sunlight had also lightened the colour of her hair, but she didn't mind, she enjoyed the fresh air she got from working at the cafe – it was centred right in the middle of the main park, and the greenery made her feel happy. At first she declined the job offer at the hotel, whilst it looked relatively new it was actually pretty old, the hotel in particular was lavished with rumours of being the place to go too for one of two reasons, one in being to have an affair with your lover and the other to leave the world. There were a few rooms in particular apparently rumoured to be haunted by the ghost of a hanged pregnant maid, and the corridors in the east wing being haunted by a cheeky boy who died drinking too many products from the cleaning trolley…She didn't believe in such rumours however, and thought they were just silly tales used to gain tourists at the hotel.

She looked at the small selection of makeup products she was given to wear and put them on, she still felt uncomfortable wearing bright red lipstick as she didn't think she could pull it off, but the howls she got from passer-by's at the hotel proved otherwise. Although it didn't really make her feel comfortable…

With the makeup done she took one final look in the mirror and packed the rest of her things and shut her suitcase. She pinched off the train ticket to Shibyua that she attached to the side of the mirror and placed it safely in her pocket. She fixed her tight midi skirt and made sure her brown stockings didn't have any rips. She carefully slipped into her blue suede high heel shoes and walked out of the hotel, leaving her key card with the receptionist at the desk and headed to the train station.

The train ride only took a few minutes but was much faster than walking as she could cut straight across the city instead of being stuck with detours. She managed to exit at the stop that took her near the entrance of the park. Had she taken a space in another carriage she would have had to walk the entire route from the outside of the park leading in, saving her around a ten minute walk. _'Today_ _ **must**_ _be my lucky day!'_ She thought. She shivered slightly as she walked through a cold patch of air that made her shiver, but she thought nothing of it and blamed it on the air conditioning.

She walked up to the cafe, the design of which was a giant pink castle, despite the cuteness of the design, many adults and men visited the cafe for it's refreshing atmosphere and food. She loved every minute of working here. Just coming in to start a shift made her feel like a princess coming home.

The staff was dressed in maid-style aprons and occasionally the cafe held events to bring more customers in such as 'animal-ear day' or 'glasses-day', there were occasionally some weirdoes that visited but it helped that the manager also doubled up as the staff's bodyguard. The manager was a young man, not that much older than her and had blue eyes and blonde hair, she had wondered if he was foreign due to his hair colour but never had the guts to ask. Although he looked pretty, his personality was rotten.

She ordered a small pastry item for herself, a nutty baklava oozing with honey, and a foamy misto drink – her usual but she had no chance of changing her routine, she preferred it when things went her way. She looked at the blue haired waitress in front of her, her hair in two neat buns on either side of her head.

"Can I get a box of shrimp tempura as well please? To go as well." The waitress nodded and went to the back to deliver the order. She knew it would take a few minutes and waited patiently.

Truthfully she had thought about drinking stronger coffees, but this was the favourite of the child she had waiting at home. They would both sit and share from the cup and laugh at each other's foamy moustaches. Before she knew it, her order was ready and she kindly paid the staff and headed out.

She exited the park and went further down the district, as she passed by a few shops she stopped and stared at her reflection, her bun had started to come loose and a lock of her reddish-brown hair had been flowing down her neck in a curl. She sighed and thought about lopping her hair off into a simple, shaggy, bob cut – at least it would be better to maintain.

The hairs on the back of her neck started to risen, as if her body was warning her of something. Looking further down she noticed her handbag was undone. _'Ah I must have forgotten to zip it back up after I paid the lady...what was I so distracted about again?'_

Had she been paying attention, she would have realised that today was most certainly not her lucky day, as she had failed to notice the glowing pair of eyes that had been following her since she stepped off the train.

* * *

(A/N:

I wanted to try this new thing were we get chapters that aren't from the point of view of the SPR members. How did I do? You may be wondering where Mai is, well dear readers, Naru and the rest of the SPR gang will be investigating that very question in the next chapter! You will definitely see her then!

I'll answer some PM's I got under Anon. (This was a registered user but I'm withdrawing the name as I don't want any hate messages going to them.)

Anon PM: What is the relationship between Mai and Yasu? Naru was told everyone had lost contact with Mai! SL: What could this mean?~ Maybe love? Maybe not? Maybe Yasu knows a dirty secret of Mai and is blackmailing her!?

Anon PM: WHERE IS KIMI?! SL: Ehh right? Where is she? Was she not in this story? Did she appear already when you weren't looking?

Anon PM: Please have Mai with Naru. SL: Please vote on the poll! (I've put it back up!) Mai may end up with someone you don't want if you don't vote! Right now Mai is looking to end with an OC than a character you already know!

Anon PM: I came to this story for the haunted school _! SL: (/ﾟДﾟ)/ You shall see the school not in the next chapter but the one after that!

This person kept replying so I'll use chat format for this:

Anon PM/Thread: Calling it, Kimi is Naru and Mai's secret lovechild! 1 Mystery solved.

SL: Wahh you called it indeed. I'm too predictable aren't I? My writing is pointless *Waves white flag*

Anon: Uwah, really?

SL: No. Kimi is actually a possessed spirit who is waiting until it's stronger so it can kill Mai and take her body. *Sigh* I actually planned to kill Mai off after announcing she was pregnant with Lin's child. This is why she has not been in contact with the group for so long; she's been dealing with that!

Anon: ಠ~ಠ

SL: I jest surely. Truthfully I can only say at this point Kimi is a daughter of one of the characters in the story but her mother hasn't been confirmed.

*At this point Anon was incredibly rude*

SL: -_- I will not be confirming the relationship of Kimi so soon in the story. You will get a clear answer the sooner you solve the hints in the chapters. The most obvious answer is not the correct one.


End file.
